NATURAL WAYS OF IMPROVING MEMORY

ARTICLE WRITTEN BY C. MITRA   Msc Food and Nutrition , B, Sc Food and Nutrition

Memory loss


Memory is generally defined as the processes, which are used to encode, store and retrieve information when needed. Memory plays several fundamental roles in human life. It is also associated with ensuring the continuity between what was and what was going to be. Memory is extremely essential for learning as well. Moreover memory is very much important for our lives.

Whereas many individual experience unusual forgetfulness or memory loss. Having a poor memory is really frustrating. Generally age related changes in brain are responsible for memory loss but genetics also plays a role in memory loss like some neurological conditions such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease may cause memory loss. Depression, stress, anxiety or busy life may also develop forgetfulness.

There are several things individual can do for decreasing the prevalence of memory loss, which ultimately help them to lead their life in a better way. Below point will discuss about 21 natural ways of improving memory –

Include oily fish in diet

  • Oily fish like herring, salmon, mackerel, pilchards, sardines etc should be incorporated in diet as they contain significant amount of omega 3 fatty acid, which helps to promote the health and activity of brain as a result improves memory
  • It helps to improve the symptoms of Alzheimer’s diseases as well, which ultimately help to inhibit memory declining
  • Fish oil supplements can also be consumed for improving memory as they contain desirable amount of omega 3 fatty acid, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which are considered as essential elements for healthy brain functions

Have nuts                                             

Nuts are considered as good source of protein. Apart from protein nuts also provide several brain boosting nutrients like Vitamin E, Vitamin B6 and omega 3 fatty acid that help to improve memory by promoting brain’s health

Memory

Try turmeric

  • Curcumin is one of the most important biologically active components of turmeric that helps to delay the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease thus helps in preventing memory declining
  • Curcumin also exerts antioxidant, lipophilic and anti-inflammatory activities, which help to improve cognitive functions especially among those individual who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease

Have teas

  • Consumption of tea especially green tea or black tea in moderation is considered as very important way for keeping the memory safe as it is related with decreasing the synthesis of those brain chemicals, which are accountable for developing Alzheimer’s disease
  • Tea also contains various imperative plant compounds that help to protect neurons from damages thus reduces the prevalence of neuro-inflammatory events, which ultimately promotes memory as well as cognitive function

Focus on consuming whole grain cereals

  • It has seen that prolong consumption of refined cereals like cake, pastry, white rice, noodles, processed carbohydrates or fast foods are associated with memory loss thus it is better to consume whole grain cereals
  • Whole grain cereals also contain Vitamin B complex among which Vitamin B6 plays important role in improving the growth and development of brain

Include eggs in diet

  • Consumption of egg especially egg yolk is extremely beneficial for improving memory as it contains lutein, which helps to improve mental performance
  • Lutein is also associated with enhancing the ability of processing information

Have some berries

Inclusion of colorful berries in diet like blueberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, blackberries, cherries etc are very effective for improving memory as they exert potent antioxidant activities, which help to protect the brain from free radical induced oxidative damages as a result promotes the health as well as activity of brain and subsequently inhibits memory loss

Try beetroot

  • Consumption of beetroot is very much beneficial for improving memory as it contains desirable amount of nitrates
  • Nitrates are responsible for dilating blood vessels. Dilated blood vessels ultimately increases blood flow to the brain thus helps to keep the memory sharper for long period of times

Avoid added sugar

  • Excessive consumption of added sugar is not wise as it is related with developing various health complications including cognitive decline
  • Consumption of diet containing too much added sugar is responsible for decreasing brain volume particularly in that area of brain, which is responsible for storing short term memory as a result, causes memory loss thus it is better to avoid the consumption of added sugar in order to obtain healthy memory

Maintenance of healthy body weight

  • Obesity is considered as a risk factor for memory loss
  • Obesity develops inflammatory damages as well as insulin resistance, both of which provide a negative impact on brain thus it is better to maintain a healthy body weight that ultimately help to keep the body as well as the mind in top position

Maintenance of Vitamin D level in normal range

Low level of Vitamin D is responsible for increasing the risk of dementia, which ultimately reduces cognitive functions thus it is better to maintain the level of Vitamin D in normal range for avoiding the consequences of dementia

Avoid alcohol consumption

  • It is better to avoid alcohol consumption as alcohol has neurotoxic effects on brain
  • It has seen that binge drinking is linked with damaging the hippocampus as a result causes memory loss because hippocampus is a part of the brain that plays imperative role in memory

Memory

Meditation

Meditation is a good practice for improving memory as it is associated with increasing the gray matter of the brain. On the other hand it also helps to soothe the body that decreases the level of stress and anxiety, which also provide a positive impact on brain

Physical activity

Proper physical activity is associated with improving blood flow to the whole body including brain, which ultimately helps to keep the memory sharp whereas it also helps in weight management that promotes overall wellbeing

Include fruits and vegetables in diet

Diet should contain enough fruits and vegetables for supporting cognitive health as they contains numerous phytonutrients that exhibit antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, which protect the brain from damages as a result prevent memory declining

Often consume cocoa

Often cocoa can be consumed as it contains flavonoids that protect the brain from oxidative and inflammatory damages thus promotes the functionality of brain. It also helps in stimulating the growth of neuron and blood vessels that promotes blood circulation in brain and improves memory

Better to stay mentally active

It is better to involve in mentally stimulating activities as they help to keep the brain in shape and prevents memory loss

Be organized

It has seen that individual tend to forget things if they are unorganized and if their home is cluttered thus it is better to get organized in order to prevent forgetfulness

Socialize frequently 

Regular social interaction helps to prevent stress as well as depression, which help to soothe the brain and also relax the mind that ultimately help to promote memory

Proper sleeping

Proper sleeping is closely associated with consolidating memories thus it is better to get enough sleep at least 8 to 9 hours per day. Good sleep is also related with refreshing the body and the mind

Proper management of chronic conditions

Various medical conditions like diabetes, hypertension, depression, hypercholesterolemia etc are responsible for increasing the risk of memory loss thus it is better to manage these complications properly in order to obtain a healthy memory and healthy cognitive functions

All the above stated remedies are extremely helpful for improving memory but if the memory loss severely affects the ability of individual to complete their daily activities then medical advices are required.

Memory



Source:

Baroni, L., Sarni, A.R. and Zuliani, C., 2021. Plant Foods Rich in Antioxidants and Human Cognition: A Systematic Review. Antioxidants, 10(5), p.714.

Collins, A.F., 2014. Advice for improving memory: exercising, strengthening, and cultivating natural memory, 1860–1910. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 50(1), pp.37-57.

Gildawie, K.R., Galli, R.L., Shukitt-Hale, B. and Carey, A.N., 2018. Protective effects of foods containing flavonoids on age-related cognitive decline. Current nutrition reports, 7(2), pp.39-48.

Lange, K.W., Guo, J., Kanaya, S., Lange, K.M., Nakamura, Y. and Li, S., 2019. Medical foods in Alzheimer’s disease. Food Science and Human Wellness, 8(1), pp.1-7.

Wang, Y., Zhang, J., Zhu, H., Long, M., Wang, J. and Yu, P.S., 2019. Memory in memory: A predictive neural network for learning higher-order non-stationarity from spatiotemporal dynamics. In Proceedings of the IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (pp. 9154-9162).

Youngs, M.A., Lee, S.E., Mireku, M.O., Sharma, D. and Kramer, R.S., 2021. Mindfulness meditation improves visual short-term memory. Psychological reports, 124(4), pp.1673-1686.

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